Can police search our newsroom?

Paper cut outs of question marks strewn around a desk next to a hand holing a pen

Q: Can the police or campus security search our newsroom to get unpublished photos, notes or videos? A: Almost never. The federal Privacy Protection Act makes it illegal for law enforcement officers or government officials to search a newsroom (or anywhere else where newsgathering materials are kept, such as the trunk of a reporter’s car)… Continue reading Can police search our newsroom?

Can students take photos of other students in school without their knowledge?

Paper cut outs of question marks strewn around a desk next to a hand holing a pen

Every week, Student Press Law Center attorneys answer a frequently asked question about student media law in “Legal Question of the Week.” Q: So, there's a new Instagram trend of photographing and posting pictures of people without their knowledge (or permission) and a number of such IG accounts have cropped up about our school. The… Continue reading Can students take photos of other students in school without their knowledge?

Can we use a student’s preferred name in the yearbook?

Paper cut outs of question marks strewn around a desk next to a hand holing a pen

Every week, Student Press Law Center attorneys answer a frequently asked question about student media law in “Legal Question of the Week.” Q: I work on our yearbook and historically we have used students' legal names to accompany their yearbook photos. Increasingly, however, students have asked that we use a different “preferred” name, often to reflect… Continue reading Can we use a student’s preferred name in the yearbook?